Conservation flag



J. R. BLACKBURN 2,413,905

CONSERVATION FLAG Filed March 31, 1544 Ms lfifilackburn,

. INVENTOR.

ATI'IZI RN EYS Patented Jan. 7, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CONSERVATION FLAG James Raymond Blackburn, Omaha, Nebr.

Application March 31, 1944, Serial No. 528,984

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to flags and more particularly to a flag holder, it being one object of the invention to provide a flag having a holder which is of such formation that a flag may be applied to the holder and supported thereby in an elevated position where it can be easily seen when the lower end portion of the holder or staff is thrust into the ground.

The flags and the improved holders constitute part of the equipment of a surveying party engaged in laying out plots to be terraced, cut down, filled in, or otherwise treated in conservation work but it is to be understood that use of the flags and their holders is not confined to conservation work as they may be used when laying out irrigation ditches or doing other engineering work requiring markers.

Since the markers used in conservation work are distributed over a large area of land it is another object of the invention to provide a holder which is very cheap to manufacture and may be left in place after being thrust into the ground instead of being gathered up for reuse.

Another object of the invention is to provide a flag holder or staff which may be easily plowed into the ground and will then quickly deteriorate and not interfere with subsequent plowing or cultivation of crops.

Another object of the invention is to provide a holder which is of light weight and thus allow a large number to be easily carried and quickly thrust into the ground.

Another object of the invention is to provide a flag holder wherein the upper portion of the staif is bent to form a clamp having an arm or jaw adapted for engagement with the stafi and have gripping engagement with a flag to firmly hold the flag and prevent it from being blown away by strong wind.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a view showing a flag of the improved construction in use.

Figure 2 is a sectional view upon an enlarged scale taken through the staff of the flag holder along line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged view of the upper portion of the flag holder and illustrating the manner in which the flag engaging jaw is secured in a clamping position, and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary View showing a modified construction.

The flag constituting the subject matter of this invention is used by crews doing civil engineering work as a marker which is to be left standing in the ground after being set in place by a rodman and consists briefly of a flag l and a holder or staff 2. The flag may be formed of cotton, paper, or any other desired material and may be of any desired dimensions and of any color.

The improved holder or staff is formed from a strand of black iron or any other suitable material which will rapidly deteriorate when the staff, which has been thrust into and left stand ing in the ground, is plowed under while terracing, filling in low places, or digging ditches. The wire strand is crimped transversely for the major portion of its length, as shown in Figure 1, its lower portion being uncrimped to provide a spike or prong 3 which may be easily forced into the ground and support the staff upright. It will be understood that the staff may be thrust into the ground deeper than the spike if so desired. The upper portion of the strand forming the standard is bent back upon itself to form a jaw 4 which extends downwardly from the top of the staif and has its crimps paralleling those of the staff, as clearly shown in Figures 3 and 4. While the jaw will have gripping engagement with the flag it is desired to prevent the flag from being torn loose from the staff by strong wind. In order to do so the lower end of the jaw is bent to form a bill 5 which extends laterally from the jaw and has gripping engagement with the staff when the jaw is shifted transversely of the flag and then moved into position to dispose the bill or latch in overlapping and gripping engagement with the staff. Resiliency of the jaw will maintain the latch in gripping engagement with the staff and there will be no danger of it slipping loose and allowing the jaw to spring away from the standard where it will still have gripping engagement with the flag but not grip the flag as tightly as it does when the latch or bill is engaged with the staff. Figure 4 illustrates a form of flag holder wherein the latch is omitted from the lower end of the jaw and resiliency of the jaw and the bent portion 6 at the top of the jaw alone depended upon to effect gripping of the flag. A flag holder formed in accordance with this invention will be very convenient in use as flags of various sizes and colors may be easily applied to the holders and since the holder is formed of resilient wire it will be of light weight and a large number of them may be easily carried and quickly set in place.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and that various changes relative to the material, size,

shape and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claim.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

Aflag holder comprising a strand of resilient wire having elongated crimps therein, a jaw formed by bending back a short section of the strand upon itself so that the corresponding crimps nestle within each other, a bill formed on and extending laterally from the end of the jaw and adapted to engage the strand so that a flag may be retained between said strand and said jaw.

JAMES RAYMOND BLACKBURN. 

